Garden Planner, Nov. 9

Nov. 8, 2013

Written by

Stephanie Bruner

Special to the Register

This week

• You can keep planting bulbs as long as the ground hasn’t frozen. Bags of bulbs are often on sale at this time of year, so you’re not risking much by planting them late! Make sure the bulbs you’re buying still feel firm and heavy, though—it’s not a bargain if all the bulbs are shriveled and dried up.

• Purchase a couple of houseplants for the winter, before it’s too cold to transport them from the store to the car. Some of the easiest houseplants to grow are pothos (Epipremnum aureum), mother-in-law’s tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata), and spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum). These will tolerate the low light and dry air inside most houses in winter.

• Use hard plastic trunk protectors (white ones are best) or hardware cloth cages to protect the trunks of young trees from rabbits. If you don’t want to look at the wire cages just yet, go ahead and put the stakes or small fence posts in place now, while the ground is still soft. Then put the cages in place in a few weeks, before winter snow starts making your trees look like tempting snacks.

This month

• Give trees and shrubs one last drink in mid- to late November. (Then don’t forget to drain your hoses and put them away so they don’t freeze and burst.)

• After a couple of killing frosts have zapped the tops of rose bushes, mound 6 to 8 inches of soil around them to protect the graft union. It’s best to avoid white foam rose cones — unless you’re careful to prop them up on a warm January day; heat can build up under them. This may cause the rose to break bud too early.

• If you feed birds, think about putting out a heated bird bath, too. Be sure that feeders and baths are in a spot that’s easy and safe for you to reach even when there’s snow on the ground.